Changes and New Friends
by Nairne90
Summary: An OC from our world is unwittingly dropped into the Narutoverse. What changes can her love make and what challenges can it overcome?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

 _No one ever thinks it will happen to them,_ she thought to herself right before her head smashed against a steel pole in the subway car that she had peacefully been riding in just moments before. The sound of screaming all around her started to become muffled, almost nonexistent as she watched her, in her own opinion, rather boring life flicker in her minds eye.

Nika was a fairly normal girl, if not a bit introverted in her family's eyes. She was of an average height standing at five feet and seven inches tall, a slender girl, she was built for speed. Some said she was pale enough to be mistaken for a ghost, she thought she just needed more sun. She was most proud of her long black hair that reached to the small of her back, the bright purple streaks throughout contrasted nicely with her startlingly bright green eyes.

She grew up normally, had a few friends and even fewer good friends. It was all very, very normal. She had in fact moved away from her small Midwest town to live in what she believed would be exciting Japan, only to find out that life everywhere is very, very normal.

A bittersweet scene filled her eyes. It was of her in the airport saying goodbye to her mother as she left for Japan. She was walking away waving her hand in farewell when she looked back and saw that smile she knew so well, her mothers smile.

Remembering that smile knocked her out of her reminiscence, suddenly there were red and white flashing lights. There was so much screaming and a wailing siren around her. She wondered for a brief moment why the siren was needed, it wasn't as if they weren't aware of crashing. It all came back in a wave of sound and panic. Grabbing hold of the pole she had just hit her head against, and yes she was still angry at the pole. Wrapping as much of herself around the pole as she could, she closed her eyes to the terrible scene in front of her. She thought back to the minutes before her life had started to end.

She had been on her way home from work and had just opened her favorite manga to read on the long ride. Inevitably having to squeeze around a group of loud and very energetic high school boys, one of whom she was fairly sure had grabbed her ass, she found a seat. Huffing to herself, she sat down and pulled the first edition of _Naruto Shippuden_ out of her purse. Smiling fondly she ran her finger tip down the spine of the book. Flipping open the cover she glanced around and brought the book up to her face, inhaling slowly, she shuddered lightly as the smell of books had always gotten to her. Flipping past the first couple of pages she jumped right into the story; now normally she was pretty good at tuning out the noises that she didn't care about. This time though there was a strange screeching that she was not used to hearing.

Looking up from her book she cast her eyes around searching for the source of the noise, a lurching in the movement of the train sent her book flying from her hand and that is when the shit hit the fan. The lurch turned into jerking and people around her started to panic, hitting the emergency stop buttons multiple times with no effect. The red flashing lights came on a second before the train gave one last jerk and she was flying through the air.

Ripped out of her memories again, she refocused and glared around to find what had hit her face, which was utterly useless as there were many things flying around. Looking forward again she sighed in resignation seeing an old-school boombox spinning towards, of course, her head. She managed to think to herself _who has a boombox now-a-days anyway"_ , before the damn thing reached her. Jerking her head to the side she was able to avoid a fatal blow, but still took a heavy hit, losing her grip on the pole she had been grasping. She then whispered "I'm sorry" and filled her mind with the image of her mother's smile for the last time before she hit the ground and lost consciousness.

She kept getting flashes of things but she didn't know what they meant.

 _There were men around her, one had a boombox in his hand that he tossed to the side._

 _She was being lifted into a large white van._

 _A man was leaning over her asking questions. she could hear another man off to the side speaking rapidly "Incoming Female, caucasian, mid-twenties, severe head trauma...", the first man caught her attention again, she could tell he asked a question but her brain was so fuzzy she could barely think. Her name! He wants to know her name. The thought struck her as extremely funny for some reason, she starts laughing hysterically but manages to giggle out "Nika" before the dark takes her again._

 _She's in a brilliantly lit room with a sterile smell to it, she can feel her eyelids being pulled up but could not move. She catches a snippet of conversation before her mind is fully enveloped. "We have run a variety of tests, her pupils don't respond to light and she hasn't responded to any other stimuli including pain, it is safe to assume she is in a coma, we will also have to monitor her breathing."_

She was weightless, floating through what seemed to be a world of gray mist. It was neither warm nor cold, it just was. Opening her eyes she searches around her for a shape or sound, finding nothing she shuts her eyes again.

"I wonder," she thought aloud, "if this is death or maybe this is heaven? If it is, there sure is some false advertising happening." Humming to herself she begins relaxing figuring this is her life now (afterlife?) and she might as well get used to it.

A figure moves through the mist, its form continuously shifting between male and female, young and old, solid and incorporeal. It watches Nika with shrouded eyes, seeing her life and soul, who she is at her core. Moving suddenly the being heads towards the girl, stopping only when she is a hand's-breadth away. The girl doesn't move, her eyes are closed and she's humming a little tune, unaware of her watcher only inches from her. Stiffening, the being reaches a hand towards Nika, jerking to a stop as the girl's eyes fly wide open and she shouts "I never got to read my book!" The girl starts stomping around in a way no mortal has been able to move in this realm in many, many centuries; muttering to herself non-stop until she realizes she isn't alone.

Turning her head slowly, almost spasmodically, to look at what she could only assume was a ghost. Sweat started dripping down her neck, which was weird because she's supposed to be dead. Opening her mouth to speak, she is surprised at the squeak that comes out in place of words. Words had never failed her, ever, not once. She was always the one you could count on to have a snappy comeback or advice or jokes. She closes her mouth and wets her lips in an attempt to speak again. Just as shes about to force a question out of her mouth the figure steps forward and raises a hand to stop her.

"I can see you have questions, please wait and you will understand all." Its voice was like nothing she had ever heard before, it was as if all the people in the world were speaking at once, overlapping yet crystal clear. Snorting to herself and finally over her initial fear she let loose with a barrage of questions. "Where am I? Who are you or rather what are you? Did I die? What about all the other people on the train? How long...", she was stopped mid rant when the being decided to rapidly slide towards her. Faster than a blink and it was towering over her with a gleam showing through the shadows around its eyes, a gleam she knew well as many people got it around her. Smirking to herself, proud of her ability to annoy even spirits, she stares upwards almost daring it to do something.

A corner of the beings mouth twitched, coming the closest to smiling that it has since times that were long forgotten.

"I am Fate, you have...", Its eyes widen as the impertinent girl snorts at It.

"Bullshit, you're probably just some ghost trying to screw with the new kid in limbo. Well I for one won't...", she is once again interrupted when the thing in front of her growls while reaching out and touching its palm to her chest and she goes flying through the air once more. Her vision starts to turn black and she hears it say, "I have given you the body you need, you have the love, use it to save them.", before darkness beckons and she falls back, a scream gets stuck in her throat as she passes out once again.

Groaning at the pounding in her head, Nika regains consciousness slowly. The first thing that registers in her mind is the excessively loud chirping of birds, _it must be near day break_ , she thought furiously, _the little bastards are only this annoying at day break_. The second thing that registered was the rough scrape, of what she assumed, was a tree against her back. Groaning pitifully once more, she cracks open one eye and sits up, opening the other eye slowly she looks around curiously expecting to spot the statue of a soldier riding a horse; this would mean she had fallen asleep in her favorite park (a bad habit she tried but couldn't seem to break). She gasped softly, surprised and terrified to find she doesn't know where she is, all around her are mature trees with long reaching branches full of bright and healthy leaves, unlike the small city park she frequented. Standing up, she stretches, making up her mind to walk around and figure out where she is so she can get home. It was right about then when the memories hit, reminding her of the situation she was in. The train wreck, those flashes of broken memory, that place...that misty confusing place and that figure. Snorting to herself and clearing her mind, she takes a step only to end up falling right back down to the ground in a tangle of legs.

Cursing, she fights her way back to her feet, glancing around herself to find the culprit and give 'em a piece of her mind, she freezes. At her feet is a boy, a boy she recognizes well in all his cute blonde and orange glory. While her heart was beating as if it were trying to run for its life she bends down and clears her throat. As she looks back on her memories she realized the being she had been speaking with was indeed Fate, she coughs softly about to ask if the boy was hurt. Instead, her words stutter to a stop as he looks up at her with clear, brilliant blue eyes rimmed red and wet with tears.

Watching as he shrinks away from her gaze expecting hatred, quickly tears her heart in two, she isn't fully aware that she moved until the boy is wrapped in her arms. Holding him close she walks to a nearby tree and sits him down next to her. Keeping quiet, she waits to see what he'll say or do as she ruminates in her own thoughts. _Now I understand "I have the love" but what am I really going to do? I'm in a, from what I thought, fictional world. Gaaahhh! I obviously can't go back until Fate deems I can, which is a load of horse shit anyway, but could I really leave him here, knowing what I know?_ Pulled from her thoughts by a gentle tugging on her sleeve she looks down staying quiet to see what the boy wants. When it becomes apparent that he lost his nerve to say anything, she smiles softly and asks "What's your name kid?"

That seems to get him going as he hops energetically to his feet and points at her nearly shouting "I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to become hokage and make the whole village acknowledge me!."

Wincing at the sudden increase in volume she pulls Naruto back down to the ground and looks at him with her head cocked, wondering out loud with her finger tapping her chin, "If you plan to become hokage some day, how come you're running around out here instead of practicing?"

Within a second, Naruto's face goes from happy and excited to forlorn as he remembers his own problems. Nika brings her knees up to her chin and wraps her arms around them, with her head resting on her knees she whispers, "If you want you can talk with me Naruto, sometimes it's good to get a different view of things from a person you don't know".

Keeping still, as if she's afraid to spook the boy she waits for a reaction. While watching his face closely, she sees a myriad of emotions cross it, from anger to curiosity, happiness and distrust until finally it settles at courage. Taking in a gulp of air he looks Nika in the eyes and suddenly a torrent of words comes spilling from his mouth almost too fast for her to keep up with.

"Mizuki Sensei said if I got the Scroll then I would pass the secret test so I could pass the academy exam and finally become a Genin, but then Iruka Sensei came and told me that wasn't true but then Mizuki said Iruka Sensei was lying and he said something about a demon fox and that's why the whole village hates me but then he threw a fuma shuriken at me and Iruka Sensei jumped to save me and it hit him instead...", when he slowed to a stop to take a large breath they both heard crashing and yelling coming their way.

Pulling Naruto against her Nika hunkers down closer to the tree roots. Both peek around the tree, Naruto gasps when he sees Iruka and Mizuki fighting and arguing. They hear a hate filled voice fill the air.

"He's a beast, he's always been a beast and now Naruto will take his anger out on the village using that scroll, because that is what a beast does.", Mizuki raises his fuma shuriken readying a lethal blow when Iruka's voice floats across the distance.

"Yeah, that is what a beast does," he whispers, his voice slowly grows louder with each word til he's shouting, "but that's not Naruto! Naruto is as determined as they come and he has never backed down when protecting what he believes in, that's why I see him and acknowledge him as my precious student!"

Nika could feel Naruto almost vibrating under her arm and before she could even make a move to stop him, he bolts out from behind the tree. Seconds later, he is in front of Mizuki, his hands in a seal, anger all but boiling off him, he shouts "If you lay a hand on Iruka Sensei, I'll kill you!"

Mizuki snorts condescendingly, a laugh in his voice as he yells "What could a failure like you do to me", his sentence is cut short as Naruto yells "kage bushin no Jutsu", and a swarm of Narutos appear. Mizuki looks around fearfully and scrambles to find an exit, before that can happen the hundreds of clones dog pile on him kicking and punching themselves and him in their haste to take him down.

Behind her tree Nika is watching with a wide smile decorating her face as she fist pumps the air in celebration of his victory. Moments later popping sounds begin as the clones disappear one by one, leaving Mizuki laying on the ground in a twitching heap. Smirking proudly to herself, Nika looks onward as Iruka beckons Naruto over to him and they speak some quiet words to each other. Iruka soon stands up and motions for Naruto to close his eyes. From her vantage point, she could see the confusion on Naruto's face as he felt Iruka take off his goggles. Watching as the older man took off a dark blue headband from his own head, it had a metal plate on the front with a design etched into it, the design was reminiscent of a spiral excluding the left side of the curve which had been turned into a sharp corner. Nika smiles pride showing in her eyes as Naruto realizes that he has graduated.

Looking towards the Village, Iruka makes a move to head back when Naruto shouts "Ahhh, Iruka sensei, I forgot, I forgot you gotta meet the nice lady that helped me right before I got here 'tebayo!". He starts running in her direction as she panics and tries to think of what to do, realizing there's no way she can outrun or hide from either of them, she stands and waits for Naruto to get there.

An orange and yellow ball of excitement comes skidding around the corner, Nika watches as it slides to a stop next to her. Grabbing her hand the boy leads her quickly out of her cover and over to Iruka, whose face instantly clouds up with suspicion.

Iruka watches as Naruto drags a young woman out from behind a tree, he hadn't even realized she was there. She was about an inch shorter than he was with long hair that drew the eye, much more startling were her eyes, they were green but looked almost as if they were backlit. "Say, say Onee-chan this is Iruka Sensei, he just made me a Genin and said really nice things...", as Naruto rambled on, the two adults stood and stared at one another each trying to get a feel for the other. Naruto finally realizing that neither has said a word, looks between them his face screwed up in confusion.

Iruka looks down at Naruto while keeping one eye on Nika and asks "Where did you meet her Naruto?"

With his face screwed even tighter the kid thinks for a moment before lighting up as he remembers "I was running away from you because I thought you hated me, then I ran into Onee-chan and we both fell down. I guess she saw how sad I was because she hugged me really tight and made me feel better, that's when we heard you and that teme talking and I came out here."

Iruka smiles at Naruto as he gulps in a big breath after his speech, that smile is wiped from his face as he turns back towards Nika. Shifting closer to a fighting stance, Iruka watches for any move of aggression from the newcomer, "Who are you and where did you come from? I know there's no women in this village who look like you."

Thinking quickly, Nika decides that she will tell Iruka partial truths, besides, he isn't the person whom she has to tell everything to. She had yet to meet him. Opening her mouth to answer she notices Iruka stiffen, suddenly, she is very aware that this man could kill her in seconds without breaking a sweat. Keeping as still as possible she answers him, "I'm from a land very far away not even a part of this Continent, I wasn't exactly planning on coming here either, an accident happened and I woke up against a tree over that way.", her hand raised in the vague direction of where she had been.

Deciding that she was not much of a threat, Iruka couldn't even detect more than a civilians' chakra levels. Clapping his hands, Iruka grabs both Nika and Naruto by the hands and starts off towards the village talking as he pulls them along, "We need to get back to the Hokage; he will want that Scroll back and I need to make a report of what happened," glancing towards Nika he sighs and continues, "and well you, I know you heard some things and he will need to decide if you are a threat to the village or not."

Nodding her understanding, Nika lets herself be lead through the trees, before long they are walking out from the tree line as the sun rises above them. Looking at the village she had always imagined in her mind, Nika realized that she had been wrong on some aspects, the buildings were brighter than she had expected and it was much larger than she had thought. They began walking down a wide street with shops on both sides, the shopkeepers blearily opened their doors for the day ahead. Naruto started chattering away at Iruka about ramen as Nika took in the sights and sounds that were so familiar yet so alien. Turning a corner onto another broad road, Nika looks up and sees figures jumping across the rooftops of buildings. Iruka, seeing her looking about curiously, wonders how she can be so calm not knowing what her fate would be. Not to mention she said she came from a different land which may not even have Shinobi in it. Squinting as he once again becomes suspicious, he supposed all he could do was deliver her to Hokage-sama and let him decide.

Quite quickly, they approached a three storied red building with a round shape, two additional round outcroppings, and large doors she felt like she was about to walk into Mickey Mouse's head. This thought incidentally caused her to snort out a hard laugh that hurt her nose as she had tried to keep quiet.

Naruto looked over at her and smiled that light bringing grin of his before a yawn took over and one could see just how tired the boy really was. Glancing at Iruka, Nika takes a chance and says with conviction in her voice, "perhaps we should walk a bit quicker since Naruto seems very tired and I doubt it's good for his health to skip sleep at his age." Frowning but nodding his agreement, Iruka quickens his pace, leading them through halls and stairwells till they stop outside an unassuming door.

Before he could knock, they heard a voice from inside beckoning them to come in, once inside Iruka bowed his head and uttered a "Hokage-sama" before the old man in front of them turned around. The only way you could tell he was surprised by a fourth person in the room was a slight twitch of his eye. His eyes then glossed over Nika and Iruka before he started bellowing.

"NARUTO! HOW DARE YOU SNEAK IN HERE AND STEAL FROM ME!", the boy being addressed hung his head and scuffled the tip of his shoe against the floor, opening his mouth to speak he was cut off before he ever started as the Hokage raised a hand. "Regardless, congratulations on you graduation Naruto-kun, now you will meet with your class once more tomorrow, so run along and get some rest."

Naruto's face flashes promptly back to happiness as he jumps up and starts shouting about being a Genin and how he will make everyone see him as he runs out the door. Once he is gone, The Hokage's fearsome gaze turns towards Nika and she feels her heart jump in her chest.


	2. Chapter 2

Just seconds passed before the Hokage's eyes slid from hers over to Iruka, it felt like it had been years. Nika also turns to look at Iruka as the Hokage begins speaking, "Iruka, given the somewhat odd circumstances", his eyes flashed towards her briefly, "you will turn in a written report by days end. You may leave." Bowing his head in consent the brown haired ninja stole quickly from the room.

After turning his attention back to the girl, the Hokage scans her, finding her decreased amount of chakra interesting. If she were a spy she would have hidden her chakra much better, she didn't even seem to be trying to make an attempt to hide it. His brows furrowed as he tried to deduce her plan, deciding he has all the information he could get from looks he began asking the questions he had. Clearing his throat, he motions to an upholstered but appropriately uncomfortable chair at the front of his desk, "Take a seat Miss...?" he ends his sentence in a question hoping to prompt the girl.

Nodding her head in thanks Nika takes a seat before speaking, "My name is Nika, Hokage-sama. I believe I am to be interrogated, correct?" A soft smile spreads across her lips as a hard light enters her eyes, she opens her mouth almost whispering, "I refuse to say a word unless Hatake Kakashi is also present."

Instead of replying to her the Sandaime let loose a bust of Killing Intent, expecting it to all but cripple the frail looking woman before him. That did not happen to his surprise, he did see her grimace before crossing one knee over the other and folds her hands in her lap. Looking closer, he can see she is shaking all over, with the amount of Intent he had sent towards her she should be on the floor; her bravery impressed him enough to withdraw the Intent.

Nika visibly relaxes when the feeling of being hunted passed, it had taken every ounce of her self control to not drop from her chair, in a crying mess to the floor. Looking the Hokage in the eye she steels herself and speaks up, "Hokage-sama I will tell you everything truthfully and to the best of my ability just as soon as Hatake Kakashi gets here."

"Why do you want him here so badly? I can guarantee he will be just as suspicious as I am, if not more.", the old man said quickly after her.

She nods "I know that, but I also know that he is a man that can be trusted with the information I have."

Humming his consent the Hokage waves a hand and a hidden Anbu she hadn't seen vaulted out the open widow and disappeared.

Kakashi looked up from the book he was reading atop his apartment building as a member of the Anbu approached him, kneeling the masked man spoke quickly. "A woman has been found and the Hokage believes she may be a spy but she refused to talk unless you were present, Hokage-sama sent me to retrieve you. Kakashi's eyes hardened while listening to the Anbu, standing quickly he stows his book in a pocket and nods. The two ninja leap back towards the Hokage tower.

Neither Hokage nor Nika had spoken since the Anbu had left, each lost in their own thoughts. Nika was trying to figure out where to start her story and the Hokage was trying to figure out Nika. Before seven minutes had passed the Anbu returned with a silver, spiky haired man close on his heels. As both landed in the office, Nika took a moment to look over Kakashi; he was tall, much taller then she had realized. The blue mask hiding his face was tight but not tight enough to make out any features, much to her consternation. The man had broad shoulders that tapered into a narrow waist. Nika had to look away before she embarrassed herself, the Anbu had since disappeared and she sensed both the remaining men looking at her. Turning to look at the Hokage she opens her mouth to start her explanation, before she can begin there's a flash of movement and Kakashi is face to face with her. He was so close in fact, she could smell his minty fresh breath which struck her as very funny, for some reason she didn't picture Kakashi as a mint guy...more like cinnamon.

Bracing herself she raised her gaze to look the ninja in the face, only to receive one suspicious and bordering on angry black eye and a sharingan staring back at her. Just as quickly Kakashi stood up, towering over her he questions "Why should we believe a word that comes out of your mouth, when we can just bring you to some professionals and get the truth that way?" Nika could tell he was trying to intimidate her with torture, which truthfully did scare the pants off her but she couldn't let them know that, she had to be strong.

Forcing herself to lean back in her chair she replied, "Because I am willing submit to a session with Yamanaka Inoichi, everything I say will be true to the best of my knowledge. If Yamanaka finds anything different, I suppose I would say, 'I will submit to being killed' but I doubt I'd have a chance of holding anyone off anyway."

Kakashi flashes a look at the Sandaime who gives a barely perceptible nod in response, relenting slightly he takes a few steps back. Nika realizes, with a start, that she needs to start talking, biting her lip once more she figures it would be easiest to drop the biggest bomb first. Which of her truths would be hardest for them to process, she wonders to herself, as she once again starts biting her lip. Being the blunt person that she is Nika decides to just go for it, "One of the biggest things I suppose is that I'm from a different dimension than this one. In my world all of you and all of this," she gestures around her in a vague way indicating the whole village, "is fiction. All of you are in a Manga series I read."

Sitting back, she watches as the two men's faces show countless emotions flit across them. Kakashi's emotions ranged from disbelief to anger to murder, while the Sandaime on the other hand managed to keep most of his composure, but did show concern and intrigue. Unconsciously she sinks lower in her seat when she hears a menacing growl come from beside her, she holds up a hand in an attempt to halt any movement or words from the terrifying shinobi before her.

"Before either of you kill me, I can prove what I say, I have information no one would know about both of you."

Suddenly, with a slight breeze Kakashi vanishes only to show up behind her with a kunai pressed against her throat, his face becomes completely devoid of any emotion as he leans down and whispers in her ear, "Sounds like a spy to me."

She can feel the cold steel bite into her skin, a hairs-breadth away from slicing deep into her throat, swallowing she keeps as still as possible whispering back to him "would a spy know the exact circumstances of how you got that nifty eye there?"

Taking a chance she continues "You got it from your Genin teammate Obito, on his deathbed as a gift for your promotion to Jonin. His right side had been crushed by a falling boulder after you had decided to complete the mission instead of saving Rin, who had been kidnapped." She could feel the kunai shaking against her throat as the man who held her life in his hands started to lose his cool. Deciding to push ahead in her bullheaded style, she finishes, "that is why to this day you are late for everything, you visit the Memorial Stone everyday in his honor."

As she once again has room to maneuver, she slides out from behind the kunai. Turning towards the Jonin, who clearly isn't seeing the room anymore, she reaches out a concerned hand before thinking twice and retracting it. "I am sorry to be so blunt, but that is the only thing that only someone you had told would know the entirety of, it was the only way to prove the truth of my words."

Turning to face the Hokage again she raises an eyebrow at him asking, "need I tell you about yourself or has this been enough to prove my story?"

The elderly man is quiet for several moments, Nika takes that time to glance behind her at Kakashi. He didn't look well, what she could see of his face was far more pale than normal and it seemed he might be hyperventilating. Wishing she could help him, her thoughts slide towards what actions she could take when the gravelly sound of the Hokage's voice brings her back to the present.

A blank look on her face shows she had no idea what he had said. She figured she might as well ask, reaching up in embarrassment she scratches the back of her head, "errr, what was that Hokage-sama I didn't...okay I got distracted and stopped listening." Grinning she rocks onto her toes and waits for him to repeat himself.

His eyebrow twitches as she admits to not listening and he can't help but be reminded of Naruto with the way she scratched her head. Sighing in resignation he repeats, "I asked you why you came to this world, with the information you have you are a threat to the village. Do you mean us harm?"

Plopping back down in her vacant chair, she looks down with sadness etched into her face and speaks again much less determined than before, "That's the rest of the story, I didn't come here on purpose. Hell, I'm fairly sure I died in my world." Kakashi had started listening again, she guessed it was easier to hear about her pain than to think about his own. If that's the case, then I'll talk till my tongue falls out, she thinks to herself as she starts once more.

"My world is much more scientifically advanced than this one, but we also don't have the physical abilities you have here. I was riding a subway," the confused looks on the men's faces at her mention of a subway amused her but she waved it away. "That's basically a large metal carriage that runs on tracks very fast underground. What is important is that it crashed. I remember some flashes of being brought to a hospital but after that its just...blank, for a while anyway. I remember one more place, it was dark and misty and the Being within it sent me here. It said I have the love and I should use it to save them, I had no idea what it meant until I saw Naruto. I also have to mention, the series I read that's about this world has progressed quite a ways further than this point in time."

Nika sits back and waits while the shinobi, even the hidden Anbu had slipped closer to listen to her tale, digest what she had said. As they think she also gets lost in her thoughts, wondering how much of the future that she should tell them. She was by no means stupid, but she also couldn't boast being the sharpest cookie in the world, there was a possibility she could miss something. A small detail or a forgotten person could spell disaster, telling them too much could have the same results though. Sneering at her own indecisiveness, she growls in her head, 'it's not as if I had time to make any plans either'. She glares at the ceiling before turning her attention back to the room, having made her decision.

The Sandaime and Kakashi had been watching her ruminate, the Anbu had all gone back to their hiding places and she was the center of attention. It didn't sit particularly well with her but there's no going back now. The Hokage put his hands together and looked at her over them, "so to recap", he began "you are from a different dimension sent here with knowledge of the past and future, my question to you is, are you willing to share this information or will we have to force it from you?". His face turned dark and foreboding at the end of his small speech.

"Hokage-sama, I believe I was sent here solely because of my love for this world, my love for the people of this world. When you were all fiction, this world was my escape from the soul crushing routine that my life had become. Now that I'm here I will do everything in my power to keep this place and the people I love safe. That includes telling you everything I can remember, with the caveat that this type of information could be detrimental to the original timeline."

So she began recounting everything she knew, from the first mission to the Land of Waves to when Naruto left for training with Jiraiya. The two shinobi were mostly quiet, cutting in only when they needed something clarified or explained in greater detail. The questions they asked helped her remember many more small details than she would have on her own.

It was the current question that had her stumped, after she had finished recounting her future knowledge to the ninjas satisfaction, Kakashi had looked up from where he was processing everything and tilted his head. He had asked if she was from a world that didn't have chakra how was it she had a chakra system, the only reason she could come up with was Fates intervention. It wasn't an answer she liked. She assumed that since every living thing in this world had chakra, she would have died immediately when entering this world. Since Fate seemed to want her here, it was the only plausible conclusion that It had done what was necessary to keep her alive.

A huge yawn suddenly cracked her face wide open, looking out the window she realized they had talked late into the night. Taking pity on the girl, the Hokage sat up and clapped his hands, "well it seems I have quite a bit to think about, and it seems you have had a very long day. Why don't we call it a night and let you get some sleep, I can have a room prepared for you in this tower...".

Before he could finish his sentence Nika cut in, "I apologize for interrupting Hokage-sama and I know I have no right to ask but I'm going to anyway, I was hoping I could live with Naruto. I know you need to keep a watch on me and I'm sure you already have a watch on the Kyubi Jinchuriki, this would eliminate having to spread out more forces for two watches and it would allow me to help the boy." The Hokage is quiet for a beat while thinking it over, he soon nods his head in agreement.

"Very well, as long as Naruto consents I will allow it, Kakashi you will escort her to Naruto's. Nika you are prohibited from leaving the apartment without an escort, I will assign one to you tomorrow. Kakashi will deliver you to me in the morning, so we may verify your story, as you did say you will submit to a session with a Yamanaka."

The tone in his voice brooked no argument and Nika had no problems with this arrangement, though she was nervous about having someone dig around in her head, it can't feel good. Bowing her head she utters a quick "thank you Hokage-sama", before turning and walking out the door with Kakashi hot on her heels.

The walk through the building had been tense to say the least, Kakashi had been silent and the distrust practically radiated off him in wavy lines, she, on the other hand could not stop her face from cracking open in a yawn every twelve seconds.

The cool air hitting Nika as they stepped outside was bracing, it helped to bring energy back into her step. She jogged a couple steps to catch back up with Kakashi, who continued walking while she had stopped. Glancing up at him, she thinks about what she can say, its just so freaking tense. Shrugging she pulls out the only card she has.

"Soooo Kakashi," she breaks the silence, "is Icha Icha any good?" She could tell she had caught him by surprise by the way his foot stuttered in the middle of his step. Grinning to herself she stares steadily at him, either he will answer or get so uncomfortable he has to answer. A few moments pass with Nika staring at Kakashi and Kakashi doing his resolute best to ignore her.

Deciding she has to push the boundaries a bit, she keeps her gaze locked and slowly inches closer and closer to the man as they walk. She keeps her hands in view just in case, you know, he gets spooked and tries to kill her. She's about to slide into his personal space when very suddenly she's being carried very quickly through the air with a hand covering her mouth.

Her world stops moving just as quickly as it started and she finds herself in an alleyway pressed against a wall, Kakashi is next to her pressed against the same wall. Looking around wildly she wonders if they are under attack, it should be too early for that. She waves her arms to get Kakashi's attention and only gets a finger to her lips in return.

Growling in anger she follows the man's gaze to the end of the alley, Instead of seeing attackers or any other thing that could be considered murderous, she sees a tall, stocky man dressed in a forest green jumpsuit. They could hear him talking to a young boy, dressed exactly the same as him, "I know I felt my eternal rival around here, he can't be far off," abruptly turning around he raises his hands shouting, "YOSH, come Lee, we will find my eternal rival and beat him with our youth!" The man then takes off in the opposite direction from whence he came with the boy running excitedly after him.

No longer able to keep control of herself Nika drops to the ground in what can only be called guffaws, with tears running down her cheeks, she holds her stomach as she incoherently mumbles and laughs about what she just saw. After a few moments she is finally able to get control of herself again, wiping her face she stands and looks at Kakashi, who looks none too pleased (if one eye is anything to go by).

Tilting her head to the side she asks "So why did you hide? You know you can probably beat him."

To her surprise he actually answers, "I would never live it down if he caught me with a woman, especially one he doesn't know and has never seen."

Nodding her understanding, she starts walking towards the mouth of the alley, a few steps later she stops and twirls around. She had caught the ninja by surprise again as he almost ran into her. She squares her shoulders and looks him in the eye, she had decided she couldn't live with herself if she didn't do this now.

Taking a deep breath she starts her rant, "I wanted to apologize for bringing up your painful memories in such a coarse manner, whether you accept it or not, either way, I'm giving it to you. Earlier when I said I fell in love with the characters, or rather, people of this world, you were included in that. I remember a time in the story, it had been made to look like you had died and it tore my heart in two." Having said what she needed, she turned abruptly again and walked away, not caring whether he followed. She would sleep under a tree if she had to.

As she left the alley she felt a tug on her arm, turning she saw Kakashi had stopped her. He pointed in the opposite direction of the way she had started walking and quietly said "We need to go that way." Turning to walk the way he pointed they fell into step together and silence fell once more.

Minutes pass this way till they pass a food stand that was open late, Nika's stomach chose then to make a very noisy entrance. Obviously not having any money, she walks past it only to find her escort had stopped. Walking back towards him, she looks questioningly up at him but doesn't break the silence.

Sighing as if speaking was the worst thing in the world, Kakashi questions "how long has it been since you ate?" As much as he didn't trust this girl, and he was sure she was still a child, she had shown no signs of lying or any other type of deceit. He wouldn't allow having a child go hungry on his conscience.

Nika had watched as thoughts played murkily across Kakashi's one showing eye, tapping a finger on her chin she replies, "by my timeline, hmmmm, I last ate lunch at work so it would probably be around a day and a half. It really could be a completely different amount of time. I have no idea how long I was in that limbo place or if I was even corporeal."

Blinking in the slowest possible manner at her before walking away, Kakashi heads towards the food stand. Following quickly behind she tries to decline any food but her words fall on deaf ears. Soon Kakashi turns around and hands her a couple dango sticks, simply saying "eat" and walking way.

Nika hurries after him, completely ignoring the world around her in favor of her food, as she finishes the deliciousness she finds herself walking up a set of stairs. Stopping in front of a red door Nika feels anxiety grip her stomach, pushing it back she knocks on the door. Looking to the side for Kakashi she gasps to see he has disappeared.

Before she can get caught up in her thoughts again, the door opens and a blonde head pokes out looking confused. Clearing her throat she starts "Hiya Naruto, do you remember me?" Her question is answered by Naruto launching himself into her arms.

"Nee-chan," he cried out "what are you doing here? Are you okay?" Concern floods the boys face and her heart jumps at how precious this child is.

"Well Naruto, I actually have to ask you a question, see I'm not from this village and you are the only person I know. Would you mind very much having a roommate?" Her question is once again met with over exuberance as Naruto drags her into his apartment rattling on about how he would love someone to live with and how quiet it gets.

Everything was fine until the stench hit her like a dump had just sucker punched her in the face.

Kakashi watched from his perch on a nearby roof as the girl put Naruto to bed. It also seemed as if she wouldn't be getting any sleep as she started cleaning the mess from Naruto's apartment. The Hokage had tasked him with keeping an eye on the girl, so he figured he could kill two birds with one stone and observe his new student at the same time.

He spent the night going over every word, every syllable that this strange new girl had uttered, he looked for any crack in continuity, for even a single slip-up. By the time the sun started to break over the horizon and the birds were chirping, he had yet to find a mistake much to his consternation.

Nika had fallen asleep in the middle of the night at Naruto's kitchen table, she had failed in her mission to tidy up, luckily she had managed to get rid of the old ramen cups that were making that awful smell. When she awoke, it was just after dawn and those damned birds were going off again. Sitting up she groggily wiped at her eyes, looking around she took stock of Naruto's apartment. It was a small place with a kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom/changing area. The kitchen had most of the necessities, a stove that looked barely used, a refrigerator that was bare save a container of very old milk, and an electric kettle she was sure should have died years ago. The cabinet had all types of instant ramen packages and nothing else, no wonder the boy was so small.

Nika stood up from the table and wandered towards the bathroom, inside was a mountain of clothes she had to push past. Deciding now would be a good time to freshen up, as she had no idea when she would get another chance, she slid into the shower and suppressed a screech as frigid water assaulted her. Forcing herself to finish washing up as quickly as possible, she finally escapes from the arctic shower and stands there shivering and cursing everything she could think of.

Once she was dried and dressed again, she headed back to the kitchen. What little food Naruto had would have to work for now but she would be fixing the food issue as soon as possible. She fills the kettle with water and sets it to boiling, meanwhile she heads towards Naruto's bedroom and knocks lightly; with no answer forthcoming she knocks harder to no avail.

Sighing, she enters the room and sits lightly next the sleeping boy. Staring down at him she smiles and traces her fingertip along his whisker markings. Shaking herself she remembers he has a big day today, she starts gently shaking him and calling his name. He finally groans and blinks his eyes open slowly, "hey sleepyhead it's time to get up, unless you want to miss finding out your Genin team that is."

At Nika's words, he leaps from the bed and looks frantically around, Nika stands and grabs his shoulders, "Hey slow down now you aren't late," she says just as the kettle starts whistling. "See, that's the water finished heating up for breakfast. Now get dressed and come eat you have a big day today!"

Walking out, she leaves the boy to get ready and heads back to the kitchen to start his breakfast, a few moments pass and an orange hurricane shows up. Setting the cup of ramen at the spot across from the one she had slept in, she motions for Naruto to dig in, which he does immediately. Eventually he stops to breath and asks "So Nee-chan what are you doing today?"

She thinks for a moment before answering "I have to meet with the Hokage, after I'm finished with him, if you are out of school, I was thinking we could do some stuff together. Would you like that?" She smiles happily, hiding the fact that she has quite a plan for the poor boy to learn about cleaning and grocery shopping.

Naruto nods his head vigorously opting to continue eating instead of giving a verbal answer. Turning to clean up from breakfast, Nika jumps when a knock sounds right next to her. Moving to block Naruto with her body and get a look at the source of the noise, she relaxes quickly at the sight of Kakashi hanging outside.

Grumbling, she heads to the window to let the ninja in, once he gets inside the building she turns on him as she finishes what she was doing before he scared the daylights out of her. "Do they not teach how doors work at the academy or is that just a personality quirk of ninjas."

Not expecting an answer, she continues to rant much to Kakashi's amusement, she soon has everything set back the way it was and turns clapping her hands together. "Are you ready Naruto?" she asks, at the boys affirmation she heads to the door, opening it she looks back and waits for everyone to file out before closing it behind her.

Once they reach the ground floor, Nika grabs Naruto's hand and smiles down at him "Would you like me to walk you to school?" the boy gives her one of his earth brightening smiles and cheers his delight at the idea. Taking a moment, she turns her head to glare at Kakashi, daring him to try to stop her from her plan, with a shrug of his shoulders she turns around again and focuses on Naruto.

Nika and Naruto chatter about everything and nothing on their way to the school, they soon reach their destination and Naruto hesitates before going in. Tugging on her hand Naruto Looks up at Nika and whispers "What if my team hates me and looks at me like everyone else?"

Kneeling down, Nika looks Naruto in the eyes and holds him by his shoulders, "They might," she says bluntly, wincing as his face falls. "However, if you stay true to who you are, a boy who cares deeply for his friends, then eventually they will be forced to see you for you and not who they think you are. You are an amazingly strong boy and I believe in you, now get in there and show 'em who you are!"

Naruto darts away with inspiration on his face and Nika turns to face Kakashi, "So now you take me to get my brain read huh?" Facing the direction of the Hokage Tower, she starts off not waiting for him, they walk in silence for a while before Kakashi speaks up.

Clearing his throat slightly he says, "I noticed you didn't eat again, a growing girl shouldn't skip meals." His sentence peters out as Nika starts laughing.

"Do you...how...how old do you think I am?" She manages to squeeze out before she starts giggling gain.

Once she manages to recover, Kakashi raises an eyebrow "I had assumed you were a teenager."

Nika snorts in a very unladylike way and tosses Kakashi a look before replying with a wave of her hand, "I'm twenty-five, though I had only just turned twenty-five a couple of months before the crash."

Kakashi's eyes go wide and he misses a step before righting himself, he had never thought that she would only be a year younger than him. It gave her a new light in his eyes and explained some of the questions he had had.

They soon reached the tower and headed inside, once they reached the Hokage's office the shock had worn off and Kakashi was back to his stoic self. He knocked on the door and got a quick reply to enter, pushing Nika gently in front of himself, they walked in on a filled room.

The Hokage finished up his business and dismissed almost everyone, leaving only himself, Nika, Kakashi, and Yamanaka Inoichi in the room. He motioned to a lone chair in the middle of the room for Nika to sit in, she did just that. The calm demeanor with which she carried herself could almost hide her fear but not if one looked in her eyes. "Nika," the Hokage starts, "this is Yamanaka Inoichi the one you requested, he will continue from here."

The man that had been standing off to the side stepped forward, he was of an average height of 5'9 or so with long, dark blonde hair pulled back in a pony tail that reached to the top of his pants line and his eyes were a lighter shade of green than Nika's own. Once he reaches her side he holds out a hand; taken aback Nika grasps his hand and shakes.

Inoichi looks down at her and assures her that this won't hurt if she doesn't try to keep him out. Nodding her understanding, she does her best to keep still as Inoichi presses two fingers to each of her temples, suddenly she can feel a pressure in her brain before the world blacks out.


End file.
